Bob Marley record label Tuff Gong International is planning a legal battle with music giant Universal Music Group UMG over a Bob Marley catalogue
Last month Urban Islandz told you that the Marley’s lost a crucial court battle against UMG to regain control over a large Bob Marley catalogue said to worth millions of US dollars.
A US District Judge in Manhattan said the UMG Recordings unit of the Universal Music Group is the rightful owner of copyrights to five albums that Marley had recorded between 1973 and 1977 for Island Records. The albums “Catch a Fire,” “Burnin’,” “Natty Dread,” “Rastaman Vibrations” and “Exodus” were recorded with Marley’s band The Wailers. They include some of Marley’s best-known songs, including “Get Up, Stand Up,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” “No Woman, No Cry” and “One Love.”
According to reports in the media Tuff Gong who owns a portion of that catalogue is looking to fight for it in the courts.
“This was hinted at by attorney-at-law, Michael Lorne, who was speaking at the revamped Peter Tosh Symposium held at the Undercroft at the University of the West Indies, Mona on Tuesday night. In setting the stage, Lorne gave a brief account of the recent court ruling which gave Universal Music Group (UMG) control over a large portion of the Marley catalogue. “As many of you know. The Bob Marley estate was sold to Island (Blackwell). Blackwell sold it to Polydor, Polydor sold it to Universal. And the other day I read in the papers where there were some contests between the Marley family and Universal, in trying to get back the Bob Marley estate. But the court ruled in favour of Universal.” (Jamaica Observer)
Tuff Gong record label was formed by Bob Marley and The Wailers in 1970, which include reggae legend Bunny Wailer. The label was named after Bob Marley’s nickname Gong, taken from the moniker of the founder of the Rastafari movement, Leonard Howell, aka The Gong.
We sure hope Tuff Gong and the Marley’s can regain control of the Catalogue which makes up a larger portion of Bob Marley biggest records.
